The inmate was identified as 31-year-old Clinton Orvill Swearingen II, reported missing Sunday night. Swearingen was serving time on theft and burglary convictions in Linn County.

Swearingen went missing between the afternoon and evening inmate counts, the latter conducted around 10:30 p.m., Department of Corrections spokeswoman Elizabeth Craig said.

She confirmed that blood was found on a prison fence.

The prison is four miles east of Madras. It has a 774-bed minimum-security facility and a 1,228-bed medium-security facility, but the medium-security facility has never held inmates.

She said it was the first "true escape" from the prison. Last year, an inmate walked away from an outside work detail, cutting vegetation to reduce fire risk in a forest. He was arrested in Beaverton three days later.